Rain Will Make the Flowers Grow
by I.am.an.illusion
Summary: Astoria Greengrass has always been the Greengrass daughter who was overlooked by her parents, her sister, and her long time love-Draco Malfoy. As she graduates Hogwarts, she is determined to become something besides the "other" Greengrass daughter.
1. Prologue

"You'll never believe what I got from him for my birthday?"

"What?"

"A ring!" The two girls squealed from the room across the hall. I was trying to do my summer homework but couldn't concentrate because I could hear my sister Daphne and her annoying friend Pansy Parkinson giggling, squealing, and chattering about none other than Pansy's boyfriend, Draco Malfoy. How I hated her for having him. Draco Malfoy had been the love of my life for nearly four years, since the day I first saw him…

_**"Greengrass, Astoria" Professor McGonagall called.**_

_**I eagerly ran up to the stool and waited for the hat to call out my house. I remembered my parents' last words as the sorting hat was placed on my head.**_

_**"You better be in Slytherin. Don't be more of a disappointment than you already are." My father said. **_

_**"Ah a Greengrass." The sorting hat said in my ear. "There's only one place for you-SLYTHERIN!" **_

_**I breathed a sigh of relief and rushed over to sit next to my sister. **_

_**"Guess mum and dad wont disown you. . .yet." Daphne said and her 3rd year friends laughed. I turned to get a good look at them all and that's when I saw him-Draco Malfoy. His blonde hair, his grey-blue eyes, his perfect white teeth. Everything about him was perfect**_

"And still is" I whispered quietly.

I was taken from my memory by another loud squeal from my sister's bedroom.

"He's just sooo perfect. I sometimes think I don't deserve Draco." Pansy sighed.

_Because you don't._

"Of course you deserve him, Pansy." Daphne said.

"Yeah. I guess I do." They both squealed again.

"Will you two shut up!?" I finally yelled getting up and walking to my sister's room.

"What do you want, Astoria?" Pansy asked.

"You two are so loud. I can't even hear myself think in there."

"Go away, Astoria." Daphne said annoyed. "Pansy was telling me about her romantic night with Draco and you just have to come in and ruin it."

"Well, if you two would quit squealing like pigs I wouldn't have to interrupt." I told her angrily.

"Just because you have no love life, Astoria, doesn't mean you have to come and ruin other people's stories about theirs." Daphne said. "You're only mad because it was about Draco."

"Wha-Wha-What? Does that have to do anything?" I stammered feeling my cheeks turn red.

The two girls snickered and Pansy said. "Aww, look, little Tori is jealous."

"Don't call me Tori." I spat. "I'm not jealous. I could care less about your stupid boyfriend!" I yelled and walked out of the room.

_Just keep telling yourself that._

* * *

"Oh Daphne! You look beautiful!" My mother said as she rushed into the room me and my sister were getting ready in. We were getting ready for Pansy's 16th birthday party. It was extremely formal and every pureblood high class family was invited. Unfortunately, my family fit under this category. Daphne had on a green ball gown with her reddish-brown hair in long curls down her back

"Thanks mom you look gorgeous, too." She said. My mother was dressed in a sophisticated black halter with her blonde hair in a sleek up do.

"Oh, Astoria," My mother turned to me. "You look. . . nice." I just rolled my eyes. I wore a simple black dress and let my wavy blonde hair fall softly around my shoulders. I **hated** going to these stupid parties. Especially, when they were at Pansy's.

"Mother, do I have to go?" I asked.

"Yes. Quit complaining about everything, Astoria." My mother snapped. "Daphne never complains." She smiled at my sister.

"Well, I'm not Daphne."

"Obviously."

"Stewart! Leona!" Mr. Parkinson greeted my parents. "Lovely for you to come."

"Well, Daphne wouldn't miss it for the world." My father smiled.

"Ah, Daphne how are you, dear?" Mrs. Parkinson asked my sister.

"Wonderful!"

"And. . . you are?" Mrs. Parkinson asked me.

"Astoria." I grunted and my mother gave **the** look.

"She's my youngest, Violet." My mother said.

"Oh, how nice." Mrs. Parkinson said and she turned to greet the people who had just walked in the door.

"Narcissa! Lovely as always!" She said. "And this must be Draco."

"Yes, Ma'am" I heard him say.

"Pansy's over there. I'm sure you'll be looking for her."

_Draco? Why does Draco have to be here? Why didn't I think of this before? Of course he would be here. He's always with her. I might have actually put some effort into my appearance if I would of thought of it. Well, he's not going to notice me any way. I've always been overlooked. I'm not pretty, I'm not sweet, I 'm not athletic, I don't get straight O's, and I'm not the perfect Daphne. I was just the sensible and witty, but terribly plain, uninteresting, and dissapointing Greengrass daughter. Why would Draco ever notice me? _

"Astoria!" I heard someone call and my best friend, Corrine Bletchley ran over to me.

"Oh thank God you're here!" I shouted when I saw her.

"You look gorgeous." I said. Corinne was wearing a lovely purple evening gown with her dark hair in a sleek bun.

"You look great, too." She said smiling sweetly.

"No I don't. Quit lying."

"I'm not lying, Astoria. You don't give yourself enough credit."

"Well, you know what my parents are like."

She look sympathetically. "Well, that's why I'm here. To make sure you know how wonderful you are."

"You're the best, Corinne."

"I know." She shrugged.

"Look there's Draco!" Corinne pointed at him.

He was dancing with Pansy.

"Ugh. He's dancing with that pug-faced freak."

Pansy looked ridiculous tonight. She was wearing a frilly pink dress. Half of her piled on top of her head and the other half down with a slight wave.

"What does he see in her?" Corinne asked.

"I don't know but I wish I had it." I said

"That's pretty much saying you'd sell your soul for Draco." She laughed. "Come on Astoria, no guy is worth becoming Parkinson."

"Draco might be."

"You're ridiculous." Corinne said. "Don't worry. You'll get him one day. And I swear you won't have to become Parkinson to get him."

"Whatever."

"Just you wait, Astoria."


	2. Sisters

__

*FOUR YEARS LATER*

I was sitting on my couch reading a book in the apartment I was currently sharing with my sister. I had graduated from Hogwarts about a month ago and I was soon to start my training in order to become a healer.

The day I had returned home after I had come home after my graduation, my parents kicked me out. They apparently figured that they had kept me long enough and were relieved to finally be able to get rid of me. I had one week to find a place to stay before my parents would lock me out.

_Yes, I have really wonderful parents who love me dearly._

The bad thing was that I had absolutely no money and very few options on where to go. I could move in with my best friend, Corrine Bletchley, and her brother, Miles. The two of them lived in a huge mansion that they had inherited after their parents had both been shipped off to Azkaban. However, quite a few of Miles' friends, including Graham Montague, who was the object of Corinne's affection, were living there. Corinne couldn't be happier, though. I personally had no desire to be with a bunch of idiotic guys. So, I decided to move in with my sister, Daphne. She currently had a steady job at the Ministry in the Department of Magical Transport. Although, me and Daphne had never exactly been the best of friends she wasn't too bad when she wasn't with her giggly and stupid friends. At least, she was better than our parents. Currently, she was in her room getting ready for some big Ministry gala tonight.

"How does this look?" Daphne entered the room in dark violet dress robes.

"It's fine Daphne." I asked annoyed that she had interrupted my book.

"Get your nose out of that book and look at me."

I looked up. "They're fine. Now leave me alone." I said and returned to my book.

"Now, your going to make sure the house is presentable for tonight after the gala aren't you. My friends are coming over."

"We've already gone through this." I said irritated.

"Okay fine, just making sure." She paused and a smirk appeared on her lips. "You know, Draco's coming tonight."

"That's nice Daphne." I said pretending that I didn't care and hiding the fact that my heart fluttered at the sound of his name. It had been years since I had seen Draco and I hadn't really thought about him that much lately. But just the mention if his name, an old feeling of excitement came rushing back to me.

"I know how you feel about him." She smiled.

"No. You know how I used to feel about him. It's been awhile, Daphne."

"Some things never change."

"Go away, Daphne!"

"Just kidding, Astoria." She smiled and turned to walk back to her room. "Wait, just one more thing."

"Yeah?"

"You sure this looks okay?"

"You look perfect as always." I said rolling my eyes. She grinned and walked back to her room as I returned to my book. It always seemed as though Daphne had everything- everything that I didn't have. She had the looks, she had the brains, she even had athletic ability, and most of all, she had our parents' love. I had what? The personality? The attitude? I guess that was it. I was definitely the more "with it" one. Daphne may have the book smarts but she had no worldly smarts. Though, how could you when you run around with idiots like Pansy Parkinson?  
I heard a knock on the door, which brought me out of my self-pitying thoughts. I walked over to the door, looked out the window, and saw my sister's boyfriend, Theodore Nott, standing outside.

_Another thing I don't have! A boyfriend!_

I opened the door, happy to see him, I had always been fond of Theo. He was a really nice guy. He was kind of quiet and shy but he was sensible. He was intelligent and was one of the few of my sister's friends that I could actually talk to.

"Hey Theo!" I said with a smile on my face.

"Astoria! Good to see you. How are you today?" He asked.

"I'm alright. Yourself?"

"Pretty good." He looked at me and noticed I was wearing sweatpants and a Ballycastle Bats (my favorite Quidditch team) t-shirt. "You not coming tonight?"

"No. I don't think I could handle a night of Pansy and 'the gang' tonight."

Theo laughed and said "Not even for me?"

"Sorry, Theo. I love you and all but it's not worth it."

He laughed and then asked "Well, is Daphne here?"

"Yeah. She's just finishing primping. You want me to get her?"

"No. its ok. I need to talk to you about something." He paused.

"Yes?" I asked waiting for him to ask his question.

"Okay. So on Sunday are you doing anything about noon?" Theo whispered.

"Why are you whispering?" I whispered back.

"Just answer me."

"No."

"Okay. Meet me at the Leaky Cauldron at noon and we'll get some lunch and then I need your help with something."

"With what?" I asked quietly.

"I don't want Daph to overhear."

"Okay. I think I get it." I smiled.

"Theo! You're here." Daphne said coming out of her room.

"Daphne, you look stunning." Theo said smiling proudly at his girlfriend.

"You look great, too." She turned slightly pink. Theo was the only person in the world that made Daphne an almost normal person. He brought out her sweet side.

_Well, he would if she actually had one maybe her slightly-less-terrible one. _

But I guess that love changes people a bit. I wouldn't know. Considering that I've never actually been in love. Well, at least never in love with someone who loved me in return. My infatuation with Draco Malfoy didn't really count.

Daphne and Theo headed towards the door and Daphne said "We'll be home about 11. Make sure you have the house ready."

"Alright. Have fun tonight."

And with that they were gone.

* * *

"Oh my God!" I heard a loud voice outside the door. I was in the kitchen making sure everything was spotless.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Another voice said. A few seconds later I heard the door click open.

"And then I said get your hands off me you pervert!" Pansy Parkinson's voice echoed through the living room. "And Draco! You just let him put his hands all over me!"

"It didn't look like he was doing anything, really." I heard Draco's voice and I felt my heart skip a beat. "Not like you actually were bothered by it. You're probably more than happy to have a guy all over you."

A loud chorus of laughter was heard.

"But Draco! I'm your girl. You should care if a guy is all over me." Pansy shrieked.

"He was drunk." Draco said shortly.

"Do you even care about me Draco?!"

"Shut it Pansy. You're drunk, too." He said and the rest of the group snickered. I then heard footsteps coming toward the kitchen.

"God! She's so annoying sometimes." I heard the voice that the footstep's belonged too entering the kitchen.

"I'm sorry did you say something?" I turned to see Draco Malfoy standing in my kitchen looking absolutely perfect in dark blue dress robes with his blonde hair falling in his face.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't know anyone was here." He looked at me slightly startled and confused.

"Oh! I'll be out of here in just a minute. Just putting these dishes away." I said rather quickly.

"No, it's fine." He said as I put the last of the dishes away with a flick of my wand.

"See," I gave a nervous laugh, "All done. I'll be getting out of your way." I said very fast and I nervously brushed my hair out of my face.

"Wait," He grabbed my hand as I walked past him. "Who are you?"

"Oh I'm Astoria." I told him quietly.

"Right, Dapne's sister. I knew that." He said. "I'm Draco Malfoy."

I nodded. "I know."

He gave me an odd look.

__

That sounded creepy! Cover up!

"I mean you know, Pansy's over here a lot. Sh-she…er… talks about you sometimes." I gave a another nervous laugh.

"Ha! Right. Typical Pansy." He said.

I nodded and smiled a bit.

"Well, I better go to bed before Daph…er… finds out I've been talking to her friends." I told him.

He laughed. " Well, it was nice to meet you, Astoria."

I just smiled and walked out of the kitchen and snuck into my bedroom.

__

Merlin! I'm an idiot!


	3. Rings and Raging

On a rainy Saturday morning I stood outside my best friend, Corinne Bletchley's mansion.

_Come on! Someone open the door!_

I pounded on the door.

_I'm getting soaked!_

Finally the door opened and a smiling, dark haired, blue eyed, tall man of about 21 greeted me.

"Astoria! You're soaked!"

"God observation, Miles." I rolled my eyes at Corinne's older brother. "Is Corinne home?"

"Yeah, she's still asleep, though." He said as I walked into their entrance hall.

"Alright. I'll go wake her up."

"You sure you wanna do that?"

"No." I said remembering what Corinne is like when she's woken up.

"I didn't think so." He said and looked at me. "Why haven't you dried yourself off?"

"Oh right." I reached in my pocket for my wand. "Damn it! I left it at home."

_Why am I such an idiot?_

"God job, Astoria." He reached in his pocket and pulled his own out and flicked his wand and I was immediately dry.

"Thanks, Miles."

"Not a problem." He smiled and asked. "Why didn't you just apparate inside our house?"

"Thought that might be rude."

"Well, just to let you know, you are more than welcome to apparate inside our house whenever you feel like it." He said as he began walking towards the dining room. "Had breakfast yet?"

"No."

"Good, Lollie's cooking up something." He said and I followed him towards the dining room.

In the dining room there was a long table that 4 men were already sitting at. I knew three of them as Miles friends (Graham Montague, Adrian Pucey, and Carl Warrington) and one of them was a friend of my sister's who I hadn't seen in a while (Blaise Zabini).

"Astoria!" Blaise looked me up and down." My, my! You have grown up since the last time I saw you."

"Don't look at her like that." Miles snapped.

I just rolled my eyes and took at seat next to Blaise while Miles sat across from me

"So Astoria, how's Daphne?" Blaise asked.

"Alright." I said coldly.

_Daphne- the only thing anyone cares about._

"Why are you here?" Carl Warrington asked stupidly.

"I'm visiting Corinne." I snapped." Not that it's really any of your business."

"Whoa, sorry, Astoria. Don't bite my head off ."

"I won't if you can refrain from asking me idiotic questions."

_Stupid Carl!_

"What's your problem today?" Marcus asked.

"I don't have a problem." I spat.

"She's always like this, Carl." Adrian laughed.

"Really, this is actually a good mood for Astoria." Graham said. "She's usually about as sweet as a blast-ended skrewt."

_Jerks!_

"Guys, that's enough." Miles said sending me an apologetic look.

"We're just messing with her." Graham said.

"Yeah, it's fun to piss her off." Carl said.

"Plus, she's kind of hot when she's mad." Blaise laughed and I threw my fork at him.

"Feisty little thing." Adrian said and I picked up my knife. "Okay. Sorry don't hurt me." He coward away.

_I hate men_

About halfway through breakfast, Corinne finally cam down.

"Astoria!" She ran over to me. "I didn't know you were here!"

"Yeah I just thought I'd drop by. I haven't seen you in forever." I said as she took a seat at the head of the table.

"Oh I'm really sorry! Today isn't a good day. I've got to go to Madam Malkin's. I think I got a job there."

Miles snorted. "What would our parents say if they knew you were working in a robes shop?"

"Doesn't really matter what they'd say since they're locked up in Azkaban right now." She retorted.

I stifled a laugh and Miles gave me a sharp look. "Sorry."

"It's not that big of a deal. I mean I'd rather my parents not be locked up right now, but I wouldn't be in charge of this huge house right now. And it's not like they were wonderful parents or anything." Miles said.

"That's true." Corinne said. "And we would not be enjoying the company of your lovely friends." She grinned at Graham who returned her smile.

_*gag*_

Miles looked at his watch and quickly stood up. "I'm late for practice. Better go. I'll see you guys later." He gave me a smile and with a pop he was gone.

Miles was currently the reserve keeper for the Falmouth Falcons. He was always trying to get me to go to his games. I, however, was a firm Ballycastle Bats fan and couldn't be swayed to root for another team.

"I better be going, too." Corinne said.

"Alright, do you wanna hang out tonight?"

"Can't." She smiled at Graham. "I have plans." She whispered.

"Right." I rolled my eyes.

"How about tomorrow?" She asked.

"Plans with Theo."

"Nott?" She asked.

"Yeah."

"Okay well, we'll work something out." She said.

"Write me about it." I told her.

"Sounds good." She said and with a pop she, too was gone, leaving me alone with Blaise, Adrian, Graham, and Carl.

_Run!_

* * *

"Where are you going?" Daphne asked me as I headed towards the door.

"Out." I said simply.

"Why?"

"Because I feel like it." I snapped.

"Fine. Be that way." Daphne rolled her eyes and I walked out the door.

It was a beautiful day outside and I couldn't resist the fresh air. So, instead of apparating, I walked the few blocks from my apartment to the Leaky Cauldron where I was to meet Theodore Nott.

As I walked down the twisted road of Diagon Alley, I heard a voice calling me.

"Astoria!" I turned to see who the voice belonged to.

"Hey Miles." I said and walked towards him.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"Leaky Cauldron. I'm meeting Theodore." I said and we started walking towards the pub.

"Oh Nott?"

"Yep. He needed to see me about something." I told him.

"I see. He didn't tell you what?"

"Nope. I'm assuming it has something to do with Daphne."

"They still together?" Miles asked

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure they're going to get married."

"Well, that's nice."

"Yeah." I sighed. "I like Theo."

"Yeah, Theo's a good guy."

"Wish I could find one of those."

"What?" Miles asked.

"A good guy."

"Oh." He smiled weakly. He paused and looked like a brilliant thought occurred to him.

"You know what?" He seemed to become excited.

"What?" I looked confused.

"What are you doing tomorrow?"

"Nothing."

"Great." He grinned. "I'm playing tomorrow. I'll be starting keeper."

"Awesome."

"Yeah, I got tickets for friends." He smiled. "Ya-you wanna come?"

"I'd love to! You're playing the Bats tomorrow, right?" I asked as we came to the door of the Leaky Cauldron.

"Yeah."

"Great. Then I'll definitely be there."

_I love the Ballycastle Bats!_

"I'll mail you the tickets, okay?"

"Sounds great." I said as I opened the door to the pub.

"Alright, great. Can't wait to see you there." He smiled. "I'll let you get to your lunch, now."

"K. I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"Right. Bye." He said and he turned and walked away.

I entered the small pub and looked around for Theo. I saw him sitting at a back table waiting for me.

"Hey Theo." I said as I took the seat across from him.

"Who were talking to?" he asked.

"Miles Bletchley."

"We're you doing something with him?"

"No. I just ran into him on the street."

"Oh."

I picked up the menu and tried to decide what to order.

_Turkey or ham? Hmmmm turkey._

"So what are we doing today?" I asked looking up from menu.

"I need your help." He said.

"With?" I asked taking a drink of water.

"Picking out Daphne's engagement ring."

I nearly spit out my drink. "What?"

"I'm going to ask Daphne to marry me." He was grinning from ear to ear as he said this.

"That-that's great!" I said genuinely happy. I mean I wasn't happy for Daphne. I was never happy for her. I never thought she deserved not to be miserable. But, I loved Theo and wanted him to be happy. I've never understood how he could be with Daphne, but he was. I couldn't help but love the idea of having Theo be apart of my family.

He looked relieved. "I'm glad you're okay with this."

'Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know. I mean I know your relationship with Daphne. I thought maybe you wouldn't want her to be married."

"Maybe if it wasn't you and she was marrying Goyle or something."

_Eww Goyle!_

Theo laughed. "I can't imagine that happening."

I laughed, too. "Me neither. Of course I guess I could imagine Daphne sinking that low. I never thought she had much taste until you. And I've yet to understand how she managed to get you."

"I'm sure you find this difficult to believe but I really do love Daphne. I think she's a wonderful person and I want to spend the rest of my life with her."

"Well, that's very sweet." I said rolling my eyes. "I'm just glad that she found you."

"Me too." He smiled.

"You know," I began thinking out loud. "It's gonna be kinda weird."

"What?" Theodore looked at me confused.

"You'll be the first person in my family that I actually like." I said.

Theo laughed and said. "Well, I'm glad you're happy about this, Astoria. So you'll help me?"

"Of course." I shrugged. "But I may not be much help. I'm not good at fashion things or things that involve a feminine touch."

"I know but I'd rather have your help than Pansy's or Millicent's"

"Ha!"

"Yeah. Imagine me trying to spend an entire day with either of them." Theo said.

_Miserable!_

"I would laugh at you."

"You're nice." He said sarcastically.

"Yeah, I know." I smiled.

_Theo = best brother-in-law ever!_

* * *

After a long day of trying to pick out the perfect engagement ring for Daphne, I walked into my apartment.

"Where have you been all day?" Daphne demanded as she stood in the living room.

"Stay out of my business, Daph." I said and started walking towards my room.

"I know where you were."

"Then where was I?"

"Out with Theo." She spat. "Theo is my boyfriend, Astoria. Not yours."

"What are you talking about?" I asked. Daphne as usual was overreacting about something she didn't understand.

"You! You and Theo! Pansy saw you two together. She said you were laughing and flirting and having a grand old time at lunch today." She yelled.

"Pansy has no idea what she's talking about."

"I don't believe you. You've always wanted what was mine."

"Daphne, calm down."

"I want you out of my apartment by tomorrow. I won't have you here ruining things." She said and my mouth dropped open.

"You can't kick me out!" I yelled back.

"It's my apartment, Astoria. I can kick you out if I want. I want you gone by tomorrow morning. Do you understand?"

"You have no idea what you're talking about. You are an idiot. I'm not trying to steal your boyfriend. I don't want Theo. I was just with him today me and Theo are friends! Nothing more. I see him as my brother." I pleaded with Daphne.

"You'll be out by tomorrow morning." She said and walked off.

_I hate my life!_


	4. The Bletchley Inn

It was raining again.

I stood outside the Bletchley's house with my bags waiting for someone to answer the door, It was 10 o'clock at night and I really hoped someone was home.

_I could just apparate inside. _

_No. I'll give them another minute. _

I banged on the door again and I heard a faint voice say. "Hold on. I'm coming."

The door finally opened.

_Thank Merlin!_

"Merlin you're soaking!" The drawling voice of Draco Malfoy reached my ears and I looked up to see him in all his perfection standing in the doorway.

_Remain calm! _

"Er, can I come in?"

"Oh, yeah." Said Draco stepping aside. "Sleepover party?" He asked looking at my bags.

"No." I said walking inside the house. "Daphne kicked me out."

"Oh, why?"

"Long story."

"Right. It's Astoria isn't it?" He turned around as I dragged my trunk and travel bag behind me.

I nodded.

_He remembered my name!_

"Here, let me help you with that." He said taking my heavy trunk and lifting it with ease.

"Where do you want it?"

"Er, I guess just put it by the stairs for now."

"Okay." He said and walked towards the grand staircase to put it down. He then, took out his wand and flicked it towards me and I was instantly dry.

"Thanks for that." I smiled shyly.

"Not a problem." He smiled back and I just about melted.

"Umm, not to sound rude or anything. But why are you answering the Bletchley's door?"

_Whoa! That did not come out of my mouth!_

He gave a small chuckle and said. "Well, Corinne and Graham are kind of busy."

_Eww_

"-And Miles is taking a shower. He just got home from practice. And I just happened to be up and in the kitchen. Me and the rest of the guys are playing a round of exploding snap and I said I'd get the door."

_Exploding snap? Boys are so immature._

"So you've moved in, too?" I asked sounding a bit too anxious.

_We can be roommates!_

"No, I just come by every once in a while. It's a nice place to get away from my family and all that stuff."

"It's pretty much turned into a hotel, now." I said surprised at how calm my voice sounded.

He laughed. "Yeah, basically."

Footsteps were heard coming down the stairs and Miles walked into our presence. I silently cursed him for ruining my alone time with Draco.

"Astoria! What are you doing here?" He asked, surprised, but he looked delighted.

"I was kicked out." I said. "Can I move in?"

Miles beamed. "Of course you can! We'd love to have you here! Come on, I'll show to a room." He said grabbing my stuff and I heard Draco chuckle slightly.

"We have a few rooms open." Miles said as I followed him upstairs. "The one across from my room has it's own bathroom. You want that one?"

"Er, sure."

"So why'd you get kicked out?"

"Daphne thinks I'm trying to steal her boyfriend."

"Nott?"

"No, Miles, her other boyfriend." I said sarcastically.

"Right, so why does she think you're stealing him?"

I sighed. "Because I was out with him today. He wanted me to help him look for her engagement ring. Pansy saw us together and I guess decided I was trying to get him to leave her for me or something ridiculous like that."

"Pansy's an idiot." He rolled his eyes. "Poor, Theodore."

I looked shocked. "Poor Theodore!? What about me?"

"Well, you get to come live here with me." Said Miles and then quickly added. "And Corinne. But Theo will be heartbroken if Daphne dumps him."

"She won't dump him. She probably thinks I was seducing him or something. She's a complete imbecile. He'll explain everything and then he'll ask her to marry him and everything will be fine."

"Why didn't you explain to Daphne?" he asked opening the bedroom door.

"Well, Theo wanted the proposal to be a surprise." I said and walked into my bedroom.

The white and silver room was the size of my sister's apartment. A huge canopy bed sat in the center of it.

"Nice of you to keep quiet for Theodore."

"Yeah. I guess. I'll have to tell me he owes me an apartment."

Miles laughed and asked. "The room okay?"

"Its perfect, Miles. Thanks a lot."

He smiled. "It's not a problem at all." He sat my trunk at the foot of my bed. "You coming down?"

"No, I think I'll take a shower and head to bed."

"Okay. you're coming to the game tomorrow, right?"

"Definitely."

"Great!"

"Night, Miles. Thanks again."

"Goodnight, Astoria." He grinned and walked out my room, closing the door behind him.

* * *

I woke up early on Sunday morning. I wondered whether or not anyone was awake yet. I looked at the clock on the wall and saw it was 10:30. I knew I'd have to start getting ready in about an hour for Miles' Quidditch game at 1:00.

I decided to go downstairs and get some breakfast. I brushed my hair and threw it into a messy bun and headed down to the kitchen.

I was halfway through the dining room door when something hard ran into me and through its arms around me.

"Astoria, you poor thing!" Corinne shouted.

"Calm down, Corinne. Its okay, really." I said.

"I feel so bad you. I can't believe she kicked you out. I really hate Daphne. She's such a bitch."

"Corinne, really, it's fine. I'll probably be happier here anyway."

"I always wanted you to live with us. We'll have so much fun. I was getting lonely being the only girl."

_Yeah, right_

"Right, Corrine. Especially with Graham here." I rolled my eyes.

"Shut up, Astoria!" She playfully hit me.

I laughed as I followed her over to the table and took the seat next to her which just happened to be across from Draco.

_Hopefully I won't stare to much._

Draco gave me a small smile as Miles moved to take the seat next to me.

"'Morning Beautiful." He said and I was quite taken a back. Never in my life had I been referred to as 'beautiful'-ever.

I shot him a confused look. "You talking to me?"

He laughed. "No, I'm talking to Carl." He nodded to the man across from him.

"I didn't know you swung that way, Miles. You and Carl?" I nudged him suggestively.

He just rolled his eyes and said. "Of course I was talking to you."

"You feeling okay, Miles? I mean no one would classify me as beautiful." I asked.

Adrian Pucey nodded. "She does have a point." He said and I threw my fork at him.

"What is it with you and throwing silverware?" Carl asked.

"Well, maybe if everyone in the house wasn't against me."

"Aww, we're not all against you." Corinne said. "I'm on your side."

"Thanks Corinne!" I smiled.

"You two are such morons." Draco said rolling his eyes.

"Right, like you have any room to talk Draco." Miles laughed. "When Pansy Parkinson is your girlfriend."

"Shut it, Bletchley."

"He's sensitive about his girlfriend." Miles whispered to me.

I forced a laugh.

"So when are you two going to tie the knot?" Graham asked.

"I don't know, eventually I guess. I wish people would quit bugging me about that." Draco said and my heart sunk.

_So he really was planning on marrying Pansy…_

Hoping to quickly change the subject I asked. "Where's Blaise? He was here the other day."

There were some chuckles around the table as Adrian answered. "Well, he went out with some girl last night and he hasn't come back yet. " The rest of the guys smirked.

"Who'd he go out with last night?" Corinne asked.

"Which one's Saturday?" Miles asked.

"Margo?"

"No, I think it's Bianca."

"Or is it Ella?"

Miles just shrugged. "One of them I guess."

"Blaise have a lot of girlfriends?" I asked.

"If you want to call them that. Let's just say he has a woman for every night of the week." Draco said laughing slightly.

"Oh, right."

"Yeah, Blaise gets around all right." Adrian said.

Just then Miles looked down at his watch. "Whoa, I better get going. Practice starts in ten minutes. I'll see you guys after the game. You're all coming right?"

There was a chorus of "Yeses" and with that he was gone and breakfast continued uneventfully except for perhaps me throwing my fork at Carl one other time.

_They are such idiots_


	5. Fun and Games

"Astoria! You ready?" Corinne yelled.

"Hold on just a sec, Corinne." I said. I finished fixing my hair and make-up and threw my Ballycastle Bats robes on. I walked out of my room and saw Corinne and Graham waiting for me.

"Aww, Miles will be disappointed you're rooting for the Bats." She said.

"I've been a Bats fan my entire life. I'm not just going to change my loyalties because I know someone on the Falmouth Falcons." I told her.

"Right." She said. "I forget how die-hard you are."

"Biggest Bats fan I know of." I said proudly.

"Whatever, come on, lets go." She said and we walked downstairs to see the rest of the guys in robes of dark grey as they were supporting the Falcons. I noticed that Blaise had now shown up.

"Hey Astoria." Blaise said. "A Bats fan?" He have me a disgusted look.

"You better believe it." I said.

"Okay, are you all ready to go? Miles will be mad if we're late." Corinne asked.

"Yep."

"Great then lets go." She said and we all apparated simultaneously to Falcon Stadium.

"Ow! You apparated on my foot, Astoria!" Adrian yelled.

"Sorry." I said.

"Come, on our seats are in the top box." Corinne said.

"Really?" I asked. "Fantastic!"

We found our seats and the game started. I cheered as all the bats were announced and received glares from the fans around me. I did, however, cheer for Miles (just a little bit) when he was announced. It was hard for me to cheer for an opposing team member even if I have known him since I was 11 years old.

As he flew out he looked over to our section and locked eyes with me and smiled. The game was very close and exciting. Miles did a fantastic job and the Bats only scored 4 goals against him. However, to my pleasure, the Bats seeker caught the snitch when the score was 40-130 and secured the win for my team at 190-130.

* * *

"Come on, we can go visit Miles in the locker room." Corinne said after the game was over.

We walked down to the locker room and Corinne told the security guard who we were and we were allowed entrance into the locker room. It took us a few minutes to find Miles.

"Good job, Miles." Corinne said.

"It doesn't matter since we lost." He said and then spotted me. "What are you wearing your Bats stuff for?" He asked sounding a bit hurt.

"They're my team, Miles."

"Whatever." He said.

"Come on! I've been cheering for them since I was 6 years old." I told him.

One of Miles teammates came over to him. "Nice play today, Bletchley."

"Thanks, Roberts." He said to the tall, thin, blonde man.

"Sorry I couldn't get us that win." He said. "That Bats seeker is pretty good."

"Hey, you fought hard. That's all we ask." Miles said.

"You going to introduce me to your fans?" Roberts asked.

"This is my sister, Corinne." Miles said pointing to his sister who beamed. "And some random people that are living at my house: Blaise Zabini, Draco Malfoy, and Astoria Greengrass." He said pointing to the three of us. "You know the other guys." He motioned to Carl, Adrian, and Graham.

"I'm David Roberts. Nice to meet you. " He said then looked at me. "Except you: the Bats fan."

I gave a fake, hurt look.

"I'm just kidding. I can respect fans of other teams." David gave a laugh. "You're Astoria?"

"Yep."

"Not what I was expecting."

I gave him an odd look and Miles glared at him.

"Never mind." He said and turned to Miles. "See ya tomorrow."

"Well we all better be going. Bye Miles." Corinne said.

"Thanks for coming you guys!"

* * *

"I play winner!" I said as Miles and Adrian were about to sit down and play a match of Wizard's Chess. Carl, Blaise, Draco and I were all going to watch (Corinne and Graham were out shopping) when we were interrupted by a yell coming from the foyer.

"Draco!"

_Oh God! _

The guys all snickered.

"He'll be there in a minute Pansy!" Blaise said suppressing a laugh.

"Why is she here?" Adrian asked quietly.

"Because I'm taking her to dinner." Draco said.

"Aww how sweet." Carl said patting Draco on the back. "Such a good little boyfriend."

The guys all laughed and I tried to join in. but I couldn't help wishing I was the one waiting in foyer.

Draco just shook his head and said. "I'll see you guys later."

"Have a good time!" Carl yelled.

"Like that'll be possible." Miles snickered.

Draco just rolled his eyes and left the room.

"Can we get on with this game?" I asked trying to suppress my jealous thoughts.

"Definitely. Let's make this interesting, though." Carl said. "Whoever loses has to kiss Astoria."

I just shook my head.

_Boys are so immature. _

"That sounds more like a reward. I think the winner should have to kiss her." Blaise said.

"Speak for yourself." Adrian said. "I would purposely lose in that case."

Blaise laughed. "Okay then loser kisses Astoria."

"I'm glad I have no say in this." I said.

"You game?" Carl asked.

I thought about it for a minute. "Yeah sure." I shrugged.

* * *

_Wizard chess takes forever!_

Miles had been staring at the board for the last 10 minutes.

"There has to be someway." He said.

Adrian just smiled. "Face it! You lost."

"Fine." Miles said directing his last piece.

Adrian pumped his fist in the air. "Victory!"

"Good game, man." Miles said shaking Adrian's hand.

"You lost. You know what that means." Carl laughed. "You have to kiss Astoria."

I just sat on the couch. I wondered why I had agreed to this. I just wanted to fit in with the guys who I was now around constantly. I wanted them to like me. However, as Miles got up, took a deep breath and walked over to me, I thought about the way I dreamed my first kiss would be like. Definitely didn't involve me kissing the loser of a Wizard's Chess match. It always involved me and Draco in the rain:

_**He would tell me how much he'd always loved me but thought that I would never want him. I would tell him that I had always loved him too. Then he would grab me and kiss me as the raindrops fell around us. **_

I had pictured that scene so many times. Yet, here I was in a very different situation. Miles sat down next to me on the couch as the boys laughed.

"Here goes nothing." He said and his lips hit mine in a soft kiss which lasted for no longer than one second as I pulled away.

I looked at him and noticed his face was flushed and he smiled slightly.

The boys all gave a big cheer and I decided that I had had enough for one evening.

"Well, good night boys." I said getting up.

"Oh come on Astoria! It's You vs. Adrian next."

"I'm too tired. I'll see you guys tomorrow." I said walking out of the room and up the stairs to my bedroom.

I laid down in my bed and thought of Draco and how much I wished Miles could have been him.


	6. The Big Question

Daphne Greengrass was standing in front of her elaborate mirror. She wore ocean blue dress robes, her brown hair fell in loose curl around her shoulders. Her blue eyes, which she always considered her best feature, were brought out beautifully by her robes. She applied a bit of blush and some pink lipstick and looked herself over. She knew she looked beautiful.

She tried hard not to think about what she had to do tonight. She never dreamed in a million years, that she would have to do this. How could Theo have done this to her? Why in the world would he have wanted Astoria over her? It did not seem possible.

_No one in their right mind would choose Astoria over me. _Daphne thought, _This is all Astoria's doing. It has to be. _

A knock on the door told her that it was time. She went to the door and when she opened it, Theodore Nott was standing there, looking very handsome in black dress robes.

"Daphne!" He said with a huge smile. "You look absolutely stunning!"

"Thanks." She said quietly as she brushed her hair out of her face.

Theo gave her an odd look. "Can I come in?"

She nodded.

"You alright Daphne?" He asked, looking into her eyes for an answer.

"Perfect." She said with an attempted smile. She knew he didn't believe her as he looked her over suspiciously.

"Where's Astoria?" He asked trying to change the subject.

A look of fury crossed her face and wanted to punch him across the face. She tried to remain angry but instead she began to cry.

"Daphne! What is it? Is it Astoria? Is she okay?" He asked concerned.

"That's all you c-care about isn't it?" She asked trying to hold back her tears

Theo looked utterly bewildered. "What are you talking about?"

She broke down and began sobbing and he led her over to the couch. He put his arm around her and she pushed it off.

"P-Pansy saw the two of you t-together! On…on a d-date!" she said through sobs. "How c-could you d-do this to me, Theo? D-don't you kn-know how much I l-l-love you! I wanted to spend th-the rest of my life with you! How could you-"

She was cut of by his soft lips crashing into hers.

"Daphne! I love you more than anything or anyone in this world! I want to spend the rest of** my** life with **you**. Astoria and I were not on a date. She was just helping me out with something."He paused "You see I chose Astoria, because she has the same size hands as you do." Theo said smiling.

"What?" Daphne said her tears beginning to disappear.

Theodore pulled a small box out of his pocket.

"Daphne, I really do want to spend the rest of my life with you." He said getting up and kneeling down in front of her.

He opened the small box to reveal a stunning diamond ring. "Daphne Annalise Greengrass will you marry me?"

Daphne smiled and her eyes watered again. "Oh Theo! I'm so sorry for what I did. I should know better than to listen to Pansy!"

He looked at her anxiously. "So?"

"Of course I'll marry you!" She said and threw her arms around him. "Nothing in the world would make me happier than to become Mrs. Theodore Nott!"

He slid the ring on her left ring finger and her lips crashed down onto his.


	7. Congratulations

I woke up in my huge, warm bed cursing the clicking noise on my window. I got up and saw a grey owl, that I knew to be Theodore Nott's, flying outside. I walked over to the window and the owl flew in. I untied the letter from its leg and the owl flew off. I opened the letter and saw a note in Theo's handwriting.

_Astoria, _

_Thank you for all of your help. I really do appreciate it. I'm sorry that I caused so much strife between you and Daphne. However, everything should be worked out now and she should let you move back because we're GETTING MARRIED! I'm so happy! Thanks again for your help and I really am sorry that you had to move out on my account. But thanks for keeping it a secret for me. You're the best!_

_Your future-brother-in-law,_

_Theo_

I read the note over and I was happy that the two of them were able to work things out for Theo's sake. I wondered if Daphne would let me know or if she would ask if I wanted to move back. Not that I would. I was kind of enjoying living at the Bletchley's. I had a nice room, nice company, and well Draco was around a lot. Plus, I didn't want to go through the hassle of moving again. I was going to be a permanent resident, at least for the time being, at the Bletchley's.

* * *

The week went by quite uneventfully with no word from Daphne. Draco had only made one appearance at the manor this week and the guys had been pretty busy and did not have the time to torment me.

Today, was my first day of training as a healer and I was really looking forward to it. I apparated to St. Mungos and was excited to finally have something to do during the day when everyone else was at work. I walked to the room where I was supposed to meet with all the new healers-in-training. When I got to the room I saw about 10 people, most of them I recognized from school. Although I couldn't put a name with any of them. I took the last open seat next to a tall girl with shiny raven straight hair, olive skin, and hazel eyes. She was quite beautiful despite her rather large nose.

"Hello." She said. "You were a Slytherin weren't you?"

I nodded.

"I'm Lorraine Quinn. I was a Ravenclaw." She said.

"Astoria Greengrass." I said. "Nice to meet you."

"I'm actually quite nervous." Lorraine said.

I nodded. "Me too. I'm not all too sure why."

"It's good to know that someone else feels the same way."

"I know." I said and was interrupted by a woman walking into the room.

"Good morning. I'm Susan Macmillan. It's nice to see you all here." The woman said. She continued on for a while and explained what the day was going to involve and had us introduce ourselves to each other and what not. We then took a tour of the hospital and she explained what our 3 week course was going to entail.

I spent most of the day talking to Lorraine and we really hit it off. It had been a long time since I had a girl my age to talk to that wasn't my annoying idiotic sister or Corrine who talked about Graham all the time.

After my training was over, I headed to the Leakey Cauldron to get something to eat. I took a seat and waited for Hannah Longbottom, the Landlady, to come and take my order. As I picked up my menu I saw my sister and Pansy Parkinson taking a seat. Daphne had a huge smile on her face and I knew she had just told Pansy her good news. I watched Pansy force a smile then just break down into tears. I found this rather odd, but I couldn't bring myself to actually be concerned as to what had brought this sudden emotion upon her. I just hoped that neither of them would see me. Once I had gotten my food, I ate quickly and managed to successfully escape without getting caught.

* * *

I walked into Bletchly Manor, and saw all the guys sitting around the living room chatting. I then noticed that Theodore Nott was among them.

"Hey Sis!" Theo said getting up.

I smiled as he walked over to me. "Congrats, brother!" I said hugging him.

"I came over to see you. I wanted to make sure you got my owl this morning." He said.

"Sorry. I didn't have time to respond." I said. "But I'm so excited you're going to a part of my family!"

"Well, I better be off. I just wanted to see you before I took Daphne out tonight." He then turned back to the guys. "I'll see you guys later."

"Give our congrats to the fiancé!" Carl Warrington said.

"Will do."

A chorus of congrats was yelled from Adrian, Miles and Graham as Theo appareated away.

"So how do you feel about Daphne getting married?" Adrian asked me.

I shrugged. "Well, we all know my relationship with Daphne, but I adore Theo. So I'm happy."

"Won't he be like the first person in your family you like?" Graham asked.

I nodded. "Pretty much. It's gonna be weird. At least I won't completely dread any sort of family get-togethers now." I said taking a seat in the chair that Theo had been sitting in.

"Well, that's good." Miles said. "How was training?"

"Really good. I'm looking forward to the rest of it." I said.

"That's great." He said. "I'm really happy for you."

"Thanks, Miles." I smiled.

"So with Daphne and Theo obviously working things out, does that mean you're leaving?"

"Well, she hasn't asked me to move back, but if you and Corinne wouldn't mind, I'd like to stay." I said.

"Of course we wouldn't mind!" He said grinning.

I noticed Adrian roll his eyes at this last comment.

"What was that look?" I asked him.

He just laughed. "Nothing." He said and he looked at Carl and Graham who stifled their laughter. Miles glared at them and Adrian quickly said "Just wondered if we got a say in this."

"No. It's my house." Miles said.

"Damn it." Carl said. "I wont get her big room then."

"Shut up, Carl." Miles said.

Just then we heard a loud bang come from the entry hall.

"Corinne? Is that you?" Graham yelled.

"No." A familiar male voice answered and Draco Malfoy walked into the room soaking wet.

"Is it raining?" Miles asked as Draco dried himself off.

"Obviously." Draco said shortly.

"What's with you, Draco?" Carl asked.

He took a deep breath and then said. "Pansy just told me that she never wanted me to be within a hundred miles of her and that if I even tried to see her she was going to set her father on me." He said.

"So did you guys break up?" Adrian asked.

Draco nodded. "So you mind if I stay here the night? I'm not ready to break the news to my parents yet."

"Of course" Miles said. "You ok?"

He smiled, a very fake smile. "Of course."

_Explains Pansy's tears. This might be the greatest day of my life. _


	8. Heartbreak

"Corinne!" I yelled as I ran up the stairs.

"I'm in my room!" I heard her yell back.

I ran into her room. I felt like such a 12 year old girl. "Did you hear?"

She shook her head. "What?"

I came and sat down next to her on her bed. "Pansy and Draco broke up!" I whispered excited remembering that if I talked to loudly he might hear me.

"WHAT?"

I nodded excitedly.

"Why?" She asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know. But it might have something to do with the fact that Daphne and Theo are engaged and they've only been together 3 years and Pansy and Draco are not and they've been together for what? Like 8 years or something?"

Corinne nodded. "That could be true. I know it bothered Pansy. I've heard Draco talk about it before."

"I don't really care why. I'm just so excited! I never thought this day would come!" I said.

Corinne laughed. "I remember telling you that it finally would. You just never actually believed me. You never really saw much of their relationship, but it was not the healthiest. They fought all the time but it was a convenient relationship for both of them so they stayed together."

"You really think there was nothing to it but convenience?" I asked Corrine.

"No. I think at one time they were probably in love. But then I think it became natural for the two of them to be together. They've been together since they were 14. That's a long time and neither one of them have ever been in another relationship."

"That's true. But I think that this really isn't going to last. Pansy's going to get over it. And then Draco will ask her to marry him and they can live happily ever after." I said as I began to think about the situation.

Corinne shrugged. "We'll just have to see. I don't actually know what happened."

"Okay, well I'm off to bed! I'll see you in the morning, Corinne."

"Night Astoria." She said as I left her room and made my way down to mine. When I got to my room I jumped when I saw a figure sitting on my bed.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you." Draco said as he got up off my bed.

"Uh, no you're fine." I said.

_Draco is in my room. Draco is single now and he's in my room! _

"I know this is strange. I don't know you very well. But you seem like a sensible kind of person and you're a woman." He said and then shook his head. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be bothering you and not this late."

"You're fine." I said quickly and I was a bit confused. "Did you need to talk to me?"

He just nodded. "Yeah. I don't know who to talk to about this. About Pansy." He said and I nodded. "The guys don't get it. None of them are in any sort of serious relationship. They have girlfriends but they just don't understand and they don't talk about relationships ever. And I know Corinne better than you but there's no way I could talk to her. She's just too…"

I laughed. "I understand. Well, I'm all ears." I said as I sat down on my bed.

"Okay. So you know that Pansy and I broke up tonight."

I nodded

He took a deep breath and began to pace about my room. "I just need to talk to someone about it. I know we didn't have the best of relationship but I did love her."

_Why on Earth? _

"Tonight, after hearing about Daphne and Theo's engagement she was less than happy. Because we've been together for 8 years and they've been together 3. I thought that was it. So I asked her to marry me tonight. I figured why not?"

"Oh." Was all I could say.

Draco continued "She then told me that she had also been seeing someone else. I was really surprised to here this. It had only been really recently. It was a friend of mine from the Quidditch team." He paused then remembered. "You'll know him! He dated Daphne."

"Henrick Urquhart?"

"Yes. Henrick."

I nodded. "Yeah, Daphne dumped him for Theo."

"I remember that." Draco said. "Well, apparently he's been dating Pansy. And well she really likes him and I was never worth her time because I didn't want to get married. Even though I asked her to marry her right there. She just said that I just didn't want to lose her and that I'm only now realizing what I'm going to miss. But she thinks she's doing what's best for herself and her happiness. She feels that he really cares about her and she is just happy when they're together."

"I see."

Draco sat down next to me on my bed. "I just don't know what I'm going to do without her."

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't help." he snapped.

I was taken aback.

"I'm sorry." He said. "I just need to know what to do. And I came to you because well I feel like you might have good insight into this kind of a thing."

I laughed. "Well, I've never actually been in a relationship."

"Really?" Asked Draco surprised.

I nodded and continued. "But I do know what it's like to be in love and to lose that person to someone else. And it hurts but eventually you just get used to it and the pain dulls. But I think that you are probably more capable than me when it comes to being able to pick yourself up and move on and find someone else."

"What if I don't want someone else?" he asked.

"Well, you'll never know if you don't give someone a chance." I said.

He nodded. "Well, I should let you go to bed. I'm sorry for bothering you but thank you. That helped a lot more than I thought it would."

"It didn't bother me at all." I smiled.

"Thank you again, Astoria." He said as he got up off my bed. "Good night."

"Good night." I said.

As he got to my door. "This will probably happen again just so you know."

"I'll be here anytime you need me." I smiled.

He smiled back and turned and left my room.

_What the hell was that? _


	9. Motherly Love

_**You are cordially invited to a gala at the Greengrass Manor this Saturday to celebrate the engagement of our beautiful daughter, Daphne Greengrass to the handsome and wonderful Theodore Nott. The party starts at 6 pm with dinner at 7pm. **_

_**Stewart and Leona Greengrass **_

_How nice. _I thought to myself as I read the first letter from my lovely parents. I wondered what an invitation to my engagement party would say. Probably something along the lines of

_You are cordially invited to a gala at the Greengrass Manor to celebrate the engagement of our ugly daughter, Astoria, to a man that had to settle[insert name here]. The party starts at 6pm. No dinner will be served. Astoria needs to be able to fit in her wedding dress. _

I opened the second letter from my parents.

_**Astoria, **_

_**I'll be arriving at the Bletchley Manor today to pick you up to buy you some dress robes. Please be ready at 11 am.**_

_**And please try to find an acceptable date to the party please. **_

_**Mother**_

I looked at the clock. It was 10 am. _Why did my mother have to be coming today? I really was not up for being told how I was not as pretty as Daphne. How I was never going to get a husband as wonderful as Theodore. Etc. _

I pulled myself out of bed, took a shower, threw on some robes and headed downstairs.

I could hear my mother who was already sitting in the kitchen talking to none other than Draco Malfoy. I'm just sure she's saying wonderful things about me or worse nagging him about Pansy. I decided to wait in the hall and see what she was saying.

"Now Draco, how you could let a girl like Pansy go astounds me." She was saying. I was mortified. Draco did not need to hear this right now. "She's from a good family. You're parents loved her. Now, I will let you know that though Daphne is obviously taken, my youngest, Astoria, is still available." She laughed a little. I could feel my face getting redder by the moment. Thank goodness I wasn't in the room. "However, Astoria is not the beauty that Daphne is nor does she have the brains. She may be a bit of a downgrade but she is still from a good family you know."

"Thank you, Mrs. Greengrass. Though I do not know Astoria very well, I would not day that she is by any means a downgrade from Daphne." He said. A huge smile crept onto my face as I heard these words and I decided to make my presence known.

My mother nodded. "Well, that's kind of you Draco."

"Hello, mother." I said.

She stood up. "Astoria, you look terrible."

"Thanks, mum." I said. "Good to see you, too."

"Please go and do something with your hair before we go. And put some make-up on or something." She said.

"Yes, mother." I said and walked up the stairs to my bedroom. I heard footsteps behind me and said. "Mother, I don't need you to follow me. I can handle this on my own."

"Oh, it's just me." I heard Draco's voice.

I turned around. "Oh, I'm sorry. And I didn't mean to eavesdrop but I want to apologize for what my mother said to you. It was completely out of line. And I know that was not something you needed to hear right now."

He shrugged. "It's not a big deal. I got the same speech from my mother in a howler this morning. I'm surprised you didn't hear it."

I shook my head. "But thank you for defending me to her and saying that I wasn't a downgrade from Daphne." I said and I couldn't stop the smile from spreading across my face.

He nodded. "Well, I really don't think you are."

"Thank you." I said and went into my room.

"That's slightly better." My mother said as I came back downstairs. "To Madame Malkins." She said and we both apparated.

* * *

"Now I think that a pale blue will look good on you. It would match the color of your eyes and would look nice with your hair if you do something to it."

I just nodded.

"Here we go." She said pulling some off the rack. They were a light, shimmery blue that was almost silver. They were a very thin, silky material.

I went over to the fitting rooms to try them on.

"Astoria! What are you doing here?"

"Corinne!" I said. I completely forgot she was working here. "I'm here with my mother. She's making me buy some dress robes for Daphne's party. You better stay in the back. I doubt you want to have to talk to her." She nodded and went into the backroom.

I went into the fitting room and tried on the dress robes and reemerged to show my mother.

"Those are very nice, Astoria. Now let's just get Madame Malkin to fit them to you properly." She said and pointed on the stool in front of the mirror for me to stand on and called for Madame Malkin.

I heard Madame Malkin's high voice call. "Ms. Bletchley, would you mind helping our customer over here."

_Fantastic _

As Corinne walked over to us, she attempted to act as professionally as possible as she measured me. My mother just stared at her.

"Corinne." My mother said disapprovingly. "Are you working here?"

Corinne nodded.

"I would have thought a girl from your standing could have found a better job."

"Mother…" I said through gritted teeth.

"You're parents would be so disappointed." She said. I looked at Corinne, who's eyes were filling with tears. She continued fitting me in silence.

Once she had finished. "There you are." She said and handed my mother the bill.

I looked in the mirror. These robes were very beautiful and even I might be able to look somewhat pretty in them.

I went in and changed my clothes and Corinne but my new robes in a bag. "I'm so sorry." I said to her. "I really hate that woman."

Corinne gave me a half smile. "I'm sure I only got a taste of what you've dealt with your whole life."

I shrugged. "Still, I don't want anyone to even get a taste of that." I turned to head out the door. "See you tonight! By the way I have a Draco story to tell you!"

She smiled. "Is it a good one?"

I nodded.

"Can't wait for tonight then!" She said and I went out the door to see my lovely mother chatting Violet Parkinson.

"You will be coming to Daphne's party correct?" She was asking.

"Of course, Leona. We wouldn't miss it for the world." Violet replied.

"Lovely. I'll see you on Saturday then." My mother said and waved goodbye to Mrs. Parkinson. She turned to me. "Now let's grab something to eat at The Leakey Cauldron shall we?"

I nodded and followed her down the street and into the pub.

As soon as we had sat down and ordered my mother began in on who would be an acceptable date for me to have at the party.

"Now, you could get Draco Malfoy to take you. He seems to like you for some reason. However, that would cause some issues with the Parkinsons that I do not want to deal with on that night. However, after this party you should go after Draco, Astoria. I cannot tell you how pleased I would be if you managed to marry him. That would be marrying far above the expectations I had for you. So maybe you could go with Miles Bletchley. He's from a good family. You live in his house. His sister does work in a robes shop, however. Oh But he is on a professional Quidditch team. I suggest you get him to take you. Or you could maybe get Blaise Zabini to go with you. He's an old friend of Daphne's." She said. I'm fairly certain that my mother did not breathe as she explained all of this to me. "Astoria, please try not to embarrass us for once in your life."

_How I love my mother! _

_

* * *

_

After a long miserable day with my mother I was never happier to arrive at the Bletchley's home that evening. I was greeted in the hallway by a rather nervous looking Miles.

"Astoria! I was wondering when you'd get home." He said smiling. "So I've been wanting to ask you this since I got the invitation this morning. " He took a deep breath.

"Yes?"

"Will you be my date to Daphne and Theo's party?" He asked. "Please?"

_Well my mother will be pleased. _

"Sure, Miles. I'd love to."

"Really? Great! That's great!"

* * *

I walked up the stairs to my room thinking that maybe it was time for me to attempt to move on from Draco and maybe Miles was the right person. After all, he's noticed me when I've been invisible my entire life.

I walked into my room and saw Draco sitting on my bed again.

"Are you my new roommate?" I asked jokingly.

He laughed a little."Hey Astoria, I just wanted to ask you something." He said. "Since Pansy and I are no longer together and I really need a date to Daphne's party. I was wondering if you would go with me? I mean as friends obviously but I need a date and you're one of the few human girls I know."

_This is not happening! Especially after I just said yes to Miles! But he just wants to be friends anyway…_

"I'm sorry Draco. But I…um just told Miles I'd go with him."

"Oh. Of course. Right. I didn't even think of that. I shouldn't have asked you. Miles would have killed me." He said rambling on.

"It's okay. Thank you for asking me though." I said. "I'll save you a dance?"

He smiled a very small smile. "Thanks, Astoria."

_Okay, maybe it's not time to move on quite yet. _


	10. Apologies

I walked into my old room. The room I had spent most of my childhood in. I looked around at the walls. I hadn't been in here for some time. I hadn't been in this house for some time. I went and laid down on my old bed and stared at the white walls around me. A Slytherin banner hung on the wall opposite my bed. On my nightstand were two pictures. One of me and Corrine and another of me, Theo, and Daphne. A Ballycastle Bats poster hung above my bed. This had been my prison and my safe zone for so many years and now I felt so out of place here. I heard a knock at my door.

"Astoria?" A small voice said.

"What do you want?" I muttered.

The door opened slowly and Daphne stepped into my room. I rolled over on my bed to face the wall.

I felt her sit down on the edge of my bed.

"Go away." I said quietly.

She put her hand on my shoulder and gently pulled at it so I would turn over.

"I don't want to talk to you." I said.

"I know you don't and you have every right. But I'm going to talk even if you ignore me, okay? You don't have to respond. You don't have to do anything. Just listen. Please."

My silence was a sign that she could continue and I felt her get up off the bed.

"I'm sorry for what I did, Astoria. I'm sorry for kicking you out of my apartment. I am so sorry for accusing you of trying to take Theo from me. I know I should have talked to you after the engagement. I should have said something. I shouldn't have ignored the situation for so long, Astoria. I know that. It was wrong of me. And I'm very sorry. I just have a problem admitting that I did something wrong, that I screwed up. And when I kicked you out, you didn't even defend yourself. You could have told me the truth. You could have said that you helped Theo pick out my ring." Her voice cracked and I could tell she was crying. "But no. You said nothing. Why? Why did you do that Astoria? Because you're a good sister. Theo wanted it to be a surprise so you didn't say a word. You let me kick you out, accuse you of stealing my boyfriend, and you stayed quiet so that it would be a surprise. I yelled at you and made you leave and you left and took it so that you would keep your promise to Theo. Astoria I don't deserve your forgiveness but if you could find it somewhere inside to forgive me it would mean everything to me because I love you, Astoria. You're my sister and I love you very, very much."

I turned over and looked at her at these words. Her eyes were filled with tears but she looked beautiful as always. She was wearing her light purple dress robes and her brown hair was partially pulled back into an elegant up-do. "What?" I asked. Never had anyone in my family ever told me that they loved me nor had I ever told any of them I loved them. Maybe my parents told me when I was little but since I can remember those words never came out of their mouths.

"I love you, Astoria."

I got up off my bed and I walked towards her and put my arms around her and she began to cry on my shoulder as she put her arms around me. "I love you, too, Daphne." I said and I really did actually mean it. I mean sure she was an annoying little bitch but still she was the only person in my family who had ever shown me kindness at any point in my life.

"I'm so sorry, Astoria." She said through sobs.

"It's okay." I said as my eyes filled with tears. "I forgive you."

The two of us just stood there for a moment holding each other and crying.

I pulled away and looked at her and gave her a small smile. "Now, this is your party" I said as I wiped the tears off of her face. "This is your day, okay? I want you to be happy. So go clean up your face and put a smile on. You look beautiful."

Daphne nodded. "Thanks Astoria." She said smiling and giving me another hug. "You should get ready, too." She said and walked out the door.

I pulled my dress robes out of my bag and slid into them. I let my long, blonde hair fall in loose waves past my shoulders. I put on my make-up and stood in front of the mirror. For the first time in my life, I looked in the mirror and thought that I actually looked really pretty. My blue eyes shined brightly as my blue robes made them stand out.

I heard another knock on my door.

"Come in." I said and my mother, wearing beautiful dark sapphire dress robes and her golden hair in tight curls down her back, walked into the room followed closely by Daphne who had cleaned up her face and looked stunning.

"Astoria!" She said looking at me with a somewhat shocked expression. "You look…um…very pretty."

I knew that was very difficult for her to say. "Thank you, mother." I said, stiffly.

Daphne grinned at me and gave me a thumbs up and mouthed "totally hot!"

"Miles is here. Would you like me to send him up?" My mother asked.

I nodded. "Yes, thank you." I said and she walked back out of my room.

Daphne came over to me. "You look so gorgeous. And I'm not just saying that because I still feel awful about what I did."

"Thanks, Daphne." I said smiling.

"You really are very pretty, Astoria." She smiled. "I just wanted to know something." She paused and hesitated for a moment. "Would you be my maid of honor at my wedding? Please?"

I grinned back at her. "I would love that." I said and I gave her hug.

_This was just too weird, the whole me and Daphne being loving sisters thing. _

"Thanks, Astoria." She said as there was yet another knock on my door. "You can come in." Daphne said and the door opened to reveal Miles Bletchley who looked very confused at the fact that I was hugging my sister.

"Oh. Hi Miles. I'll just be off then." She said smiling and walked out the door and gave me a thumbs up.

Miles turned and looked at me and I could see his bright blue eyes widen as he looked me up and down.

"You know, Miles, it's a little awkward to watch you check me out." I laughed a little.

He shook his head. "uh…sorry. You look beautiful." he said grinning.

"Thank you." I smiled. "You don't look too bad yourself." I said. He did look very handsome in his navy dress robes. He wore a light blue boutonniere that matched my dress perfectly.

"So are you and Daphne friends now?" He asked.

"Yeah she apologized and we had a nice heart-to-heart." I explained.

"Oh well that's good." He said staring around my room awkwardly before he remembered something. "I brought you these." he said handing me a bouquet of pink roses.

"Oh! Thank you very much." I said taking them awkwardly and conjuring up a vase. "Don't let me forget to bring these back with me." I said setting them on my old dresser. "We probably should head downstairs now." I said and Miles offered me his arm as we walked out of my room and downstairs to join the party.

* * *

"There you are, Astoria." My father said walking over to Miles and I. "Hello, Mr. Bletchley. How are you this evening?"

"I'm very well, Mr, Greengrass. Thank you." Miles said.

"You look very nice, Astoria." My father said to me before he walked off to talk with Narcissa Malfoy.

Draco and his date were standing not too far from them and I caught his eye and he just stared at me. He looked so handsome in his basic black dress robes. I gave him a small smile and he smiled back not taking his eyes off of me.

After dinner was over, the dancing begun. I had never been much of a dancer and had been dreading this part of the evening.

"I'm a terrible dancer, Miles. Just so you know." I said to him.

"That's okay. I'm not much good either." He said. "So do you want to try it out?" He asked laughing and offering me his hand.

I just laughed and said "Sure." And he led me to the dance floor.

* * *

I had a great time dancing and laughing with Miles throughout the evening. Maybe I really was supposed to be with Miles. He was from a good family and he did truly care about me and I always had a good time when I was with him. The two of us had taken a seat after the last dance as we were out of breath from our ridiculous dancing when we were approached by Draco Malfoy and his date, who happened to be my friend from training, Lorraine Quinn.

"Hi Draco." I said, smiling. ""And Lorraine. Good to see you here."

She smiled. "Thanks, Astoria! Same to you."

"Hello Astoria, Miles." Draco said and Miles just nodded. "So Miles would you mind if we switched dates momentarily? I happened to be promised one dance with Ms. Greengrass, here."

Miles hesitated and looked from me to Draco. "Sure." he said not sounding particularly pleased.

"Thank you." he said and offered me his hand.

"I'll be back in a minute." I said smiling at Miles.

Miles just nodded as Lorainne sat next to him.

I followed Draco to the dance floor. He stopped and turned towards me as a slow song started.

_Of course. _

He slid one of his hands around my waist and grabbed my hand with his other and I placed my arm on his shoulder. I could feel my body temperature rise at being so close to him.

"So how do you know Lorainne?" I asked.

"She happened to come into my department at the Ministry. I saw her, thought she was pretty enough, explained my situation, and asked if she would be my date. She's very nice. How do you know her?"

"She's in healer training with me." I said. "She looks very beautiful, tonight." I said as I looked over at her and Miles. She was wearing yellow dress robes, that looked beautiful against her dark olive skin and her dark hair was pulled into a sleek bun.

"She does. If only I could look at her." He said smiling a bit. I felt my cheeks turn red and I looked at him but he wasn't looking at me he was looking at Pansy. She was about 10 feet away from us dancing with Henrick Urquhart. I looked at her and didn't see what Draco found so beautiful. She had on light pink dress robes with lace around the cuffs. Her brown hair cut shorter and in tight ringlets around her pug-like face. She was average height and a little dumpy. But for some reason Draco was looking at her like she was the most beautiful thing in the world.

"I see." I said. "You're much more attractive than Henrick. I know it doesn't mean a whole lot coming from me or probably make you feel much better but…"

"Thanks Astoria." He smiled and pulled me closer to him and my stomach leapt into my throat. "Which by the way, I don't think I mentioned how stunning you look tonight. You were the only thing in the room that was able to draw my eyes away from her."

I shifted my gaze downward and mumbled a thank you. He lifted my chin up with his hand so that my eyes met his. "You have such beautiful eyes." He said.

I just stared into his eyes for a moment and I could feel myself lifting my face towards his so that our lips were just inches apart.

The music changed to a faster, more upbeat song. And Draco broke his gaze.

"I should let you return to your date now." He said quietly and slowly stepped back, away from me.

I just nodded. "Er-Thank you for the dance." I said. Draco smiled and led me back toward Lorainne and Miles.

* * *

Miles walked me up the stairs to my bedroom at the Bletchley Manor.

"I had a good time, Miles. Thank you." I said.

"The pleasure was all mine, Astoria." He said smiling. "Oh and here are you're flowers."

I smiled as he handed them to me and I smelled them. "Thank you, Miles. They're beautiful."

"Not as beautiful as you." He said.

I had never noticed how tall he was until now. He was probably a good foot taller than I was. But I had to crane my neck upwards to look him in the eye.

I smiled. "You're very sweet, Miles."

"Um could I maybe take you to dinner tomorrow night?" He asked shifting his gaze.

I thought for a second.

_Did I really want to get involved with Miles? After what almost happened with Draco tonight? Was this really a good idea? But Draco still loved Pansy. I didn't want to be his rebound girl. _

"I would love that." I said.

"Really? Fantastic! Okay thank you." He said and he bent down and gave me a peck on the cheek. "Good night, Astoria."

"Good night, Miles." I said and walked into my bedroom.

I placed the flowers in a vase on my nightstand and noticed a note sitting on my pillow.

_**Astoria, **_

_**I'm sorry about tonight. I don't want you to get the wrong idea. You've been a good friend to me the last few weeks. I really appreciate it. I think I'm going to continue to see Lorainne. She seems like a nice girl. Miles really cares about you. I think you could be happy with him. **_

_**Draco**_


	11. First Date

Tonight I was going out to dinner with Miles. I was going on a date. It would be the first date that I ever went on. I really was pretty excited about it despite the fact that I was still in love Draco and really wanted him. However, I think I knew deep down that maybe I was supposed to be with Miles.

"Astoria!" I heard Corinne's voice from outside of my bedroom door. "Can I come in?"

"Of course." I said and she opened the door and ran over to where I was sitting on my bed and threw her arms around me.

"You're going out with Miles!" She said grinning. "He's so happy. He's liked you for so long."

"I know he has." I said quietly.

She gave me a long look. "Please don't hurt him. I know you like Draco, but Miles is really a good guy and he likes you and isn't interested in scum like Parkinson."

"I would never hurt Miles." I said.

Corinne nodded. "I know you never would intentionally."

* * *

I sat in front of my mirror, fixing my hair so that I did indeed look good for my date with Miles tonight. I fixed my hair so that it fell in even curls. He told me to wear nice muggle clothes, so I had put on a simple knee-length black dress and fixed my make-up similarly to how I wore it last night at the party. I did look kind of pretty.

The door opened to my room. "Can I come in?" The voice of Draco Malfoy asked.

"Oh. Sure." I said quietly.

"Wow. I heard you had a hot date tonight. You look very nice." He said.

"Thanks." I mumbled.

He walked over and sat in the chair by my bed. "I'm sorry about last night and I'm really sorry about that note I left you. That was completely out of line. I just assumed you wanted something more from me…which you obviously don't since you're clearly interested in Miles, not me."

_If only that were true. _

I just nodded and remained silent.

He got up off the chair. "Okay well…have fun tonight. I'll talk to you tomorrow since I'm officially living here after my break-up with Pansy since my mother hates me."

"Alright." I said. "Good-night."

He left the room and I looked in my mirror one last time to make sure my hair and make-up was perfect and then I went downstairs to meet Miles in the entry hall.

He was standing down there wearing a blue button up shirt that made his eyes stand out and he smiled as I walked down the stairs.

"You're so beautiful." He said and he bent down to give me a light kiss on the cheek and he conjured up a red rose.

"Thanks, Miles." I said taking the flower.

"Okay I'm taking you to this muggle restaurant that I found. It has fantastic food." He said offering me his arm so I could apparate to wherever it is we were going.

We appeared in an alley, as not to make a commotion, across the street from a very quaint, little Italian restaurant.

We walked inside and an Italian woman with a very thick accent asked for our name.

"Bletchley." Miles said.

"Right this way Mr. Bletchley." The woman said and led us to our table.

I took my seat and looked around. I had never eaten in a muggle restaurant before and I had never spent much time in the muggle world. There were a lot of couples around us, holding hands and staring into each other's eyes. I wondered when Miles had been here before.

The waiter brought us some wine and some bread. I had never had wine before. And took our order.

I had a really great time with Miles. He was very funny and we had a good time talking about Corinne and Graham and Adrian, Blaise and the other's who often lived at the Bletchley's. We reminisced about our times at Hogwarts and teachers that we loved like Snape and Flitwick and others that we hated like Hagrid and Binns. It was amazing how much I was at ease around him.

I actually was very sad when I realized that it was time to go and we were headed back to the house.

Miles was a perfect gentleman when we got back and I saw Corinne watching us along with Draco from the living room. Corinne was grinning, while Draco looked fairly miserable. Of course, this may have been because he was sitting with Corinne, who annoyed him greatly.

We walked up the stairs and Miles opened the door to his room and invited me inside. I got a little nervous hoping he wasn't expecting too much.

Miles room was green and black and was decorated with Slytherin and Falmouth Falcon's memorabilia.

We sat on his bed and continued talking a little more.

"You know Astoria," He began. "I've liked you since you were about 16 and you came over for that summer. You had grown up so much since I had last seen you. And now you're so beautiful and fun to be around. It's been so long since I went out with a girl like you. Someone smart and witty and easy to be around."

I just smiled as he leaned towards me and brushed my hair out of my face. His hand lingered on my cheek and I decided what I needed to do. I don't know why I decided I needed to do this, maybe it was to get over Draco, maybe because I felt that Miles was who I should focus on, or maybe I was tired of feeling alone.

I leaned forward and kissed Miles. My real first kiss. A kiss that really meant something to both of us. It was a brief kiss and I knew I had caught him off guard. However, he recovered his composure and he leaned forward and kissed me again very gently. I felt his hand on the back of my head as he began to deepen the kiss and slid my arms around his neck. The kiss turned from gentle to passionate very quickly and I felt him pushing me back on the bed. I laid back on the bed and he put his arms on either side of my head and I ran my fingers through his curly dark hair. We broke for a moment to catch our breath but very briefly and then his lips collided with mine again. I felt his tongue against my lips and opened my mouth to let it enter.

I had never had this feeling before. It was such a wonderful and happy feeling and I wanted it to keep going.

I felt his hand at my back and felt him starting to unzip my dress. I pushed his hand away from my zipper. I was definitely not ready for that.

He began to kiss my neck and it was at this point, though I was thoroughly enjoying it, that I decided it should stop.

"Miles, I probably should go to bed." I said quietly.

He rolled over from on top of me. "Oh right." He said and we both sat up. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-"

I cut him off with a quick kiss. "It's fine." I said smiling and got up off his bed.

He stood up and walked me to the door. "I can find the way from here." I said as his room was across from mine. "Good night."

He bent down and kissed me again. "Good night, Astoria." He said beaming.


	12. The Red Book

I was awoken by loud banging and yells coming from downstairs. I immediately jumped out of my bed and ran towards the door to see what in the world was going on.

"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" I heard the voice of Miles yelling.

"Easy, Bletchley. I'm an Auror." Came a calm, somewhat familiar voice I couldn't place.

I heard a crash and Draco and Corinne both bolted out of their rooms down the hall.

"What's going on?" Corinne asked.

I just shook my head, nervous to go downstairs.

Draco ran past us, his wand out and Corinne and I followed him closely behind both of us with our wands in our hands.

Corinne and I watched from the top of the stairs.

"Stupefy!" Yelled a man with ginger hair and Miles, unable to block it, fell to the ground. I saw that Carl and Adrian were also on the ground, a tall black man standing over them.

Draco slowly walked down the stairs, wand pointed at the ginger-haired man.

"What are you doing here, Weasley?" Draco spat.

I immediately realized that this man was indeed Ron Weasley. And he turned to Draco, wand pointed towards him. "Ah, Malfoy. What exactly are you doing here?" Ron asked coldly.

"I asked you first." Draco answered matching his cold tone.

"I need to speak to Astoria Greengrass. I was told this was where I could find her." Ron said and my stomach jumped into my throat.

_Why did he need to see me? _

"Is there a reason Miles, Carl, and Adrian are unconscious?" Draco asked.

"Because they attacked us." The black man said simply.

"Yep, invited us in, we told them why we were here and Bletchley attacked and these two gits appeared within seconds." Ron said. He and Draco were still staring each other down.

"Where is Greengrass?" The black man asked.

"She's not here." Draco said.

Corinne began to pull me back upstairs but I decided that if it was me they wanted, they could have me. My friends were not going to be hurt because of me.

"I'm right here." I said, walking down the stairs.

"Astoria!" Corinne yelled.

Draco turned to me. "Go back upstairs. I will handle this."

I ignored him and continued to walk down the stairs to face Ron Weasley. "What do you want?" I asked calmly.

"We need to take you in for questioning. You're father has been arrested." Ron said, his eyes still glaring at Draco.

"What?" I gasped. I had no idea what my father could have been arrested for. I knew that the Ministry was attempting to round up the rest of the Death Eaters. Most of them had been thrown in Azkaban by now. However, my parents had never been a part of this group. They may have sympathized with their actions in putting Muggles and Mudbloods in their proper places, but they were never Death Eaters.

"You're father has been arrested. We need to take you in for questioning." Ron repeated.

Draco walked down and stood in between Ron and I. "I won't let you take her." He said pointing his wand at Ron's chest.

"What are you going to do? I'm not afraid to lock you up. You should be in there anyway, Malfoy." Ron said as he stared Draco down. "Now, I'm not going to hurt your little girlfriend, I just have some questions for her. Now, lower your wand and no one will get hurt."

Draco reluctantly lowered his wand and stepped back.

"Can you call for backup, Dean?" Ron asked the other Auror. "We need to take these gits in, too." He said pointing to Miles, Carl, and Adrian.

"No!" I yelled.

The Auror, Dean, came and placed his hand gently on my shoulder. "Miss, it's going to be alright."

"Don't touch her!" Corinne yelled from the top of the stairs. She was crying.

"Corinne, it'll be okay." I said, turning to face her. I turned back to Dean. "I'll go with you."

I figured that there was no point in fighting and I didn't want my friends to end up in prison because they were preventing me from going to the Ministry. Anyway, it's not like I was being arrested. I was just going in for questioning.

"Thank you, Ms. Greengrass." Dean said as I heard a pounding on the door and two more Aurors came through the door and they round up Miles, Carl, and Adrian.

Dean led me over to the fireplace and we stepped in together and were whisked away to the Ministry of Magic.

* * *

I was sitting in a small office, Draco and Astoria on either side of me. It was still very early and most of the Ministry workers were just coming into work. Dean was sitting at his desk looking over some paperwork.

"Thomas, I really need to get to my own department you know." Draco said, angrily.

"Oh, that's right." Dean said, not looking up from his paper. "Go ahead then. We'll summon you when we need you."

He turned to Corinne and I before he left. "I'm on Level 3 if you need me, Obliviator Headquarters."

"They won't be needing you, Malfoy." Dean said. "Get to work."

Draco glared at Dean, turned, and left the office.

"Morning Dean." Said a voice coming from the doorway of the office.

"Morning Ernie." Dean said.

Ernie stepped inside. "I need to see Ms. Greengrass."

I stood up, looking at Corinne to make sure she was okay and she nodded. I followed Ernie outside.

"Ms. Greengrass. I'm Ernie Macmillan" He said offering me his hand. I shook it, apprehensively. "Williamson just wants to ask you a few questions."

"Would someone mind telling me what is going on?" I asked him. "All I know is my father was arrested."

Ernie gave me a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry, Ms. Greengrass. I don't know exactly what has happened. I'm sure Williamson will enlighten you."

I followed Ernie down the hall and saw a familiar face sitting outside the office at the end of the hall.

"Astoria!" Theodre Nott stood up as he saw me and the door to the right of him opened and Daphne walked out and when she saw me, threw her arms around me.

"It's just awful, Astoria." She said as she backed up a little. Theodore stood up and put his arm around her. "Are you going to be questioned, too?"

I nodded.

"Good luck." She said as she was escorted away by another Auror.

I entered the office and saw an older man sitting at the desk, his long gray hair pulled into a ponytail.

"Astoria Greengrass." Ernie introduced me.

"Thank you, Macmillan." Williamson said and Ernie left the office, closing the door behind him.

Williamson pointed at the chair opposite his desk and I took a seat. "Now, Ms. Greengrass, very early this morning your father was found carrying a very dangerous item into the Ministry, a cursed book. He was intending to give it to the Minister of Magic."

Utter shock was the only feeling in my body. _My father had tried to murder the Minister of Magic? _

"Can you tell us what you know of this plot?" He asked me.

I shook my head, fearfully. "I-I know n-nothing about it." I stuttered.

"Your father never mentioned that he was unhappy with the Minister? That he had wanted to be rid of him?" Williamson asked me.

"N-no." I said , still in utter shock. "I-I haven't been living at home. I haven't been around much since I graduated Hogwarts. I never g-got on well with my parents." I told him, trembling.

Williamson nodded. "Very well, Ms. Greengrass. Have you ever seen this book?" He asked pulling out a fairly thick, bright red book.

I had seen this book once before. I was searching through my father's drawers in order to find a book they had taken from me, because it had been written by a muggle. It was in the bottom most drawer and was the only thing in there. It had a large note on it that read "DO NOT OPEN UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES". I had wondered for many years what the book was but could never ask or my father would have known I had been sneaking around in his room. However, now it seemed as though I would learn what it did.

"No." I lied. "I've never seen it. As I said, I have not been home for some time, other than for my sister's engagement party."

Williamson nodded. "Do you know what this book is?"

I shook my head.

"It's a very old book. When you open it, it consumes your mind until you are left with nothing. As far as we know there is no way of reversing this dark magic." Williamson said solemnly. "Now Ms. Greengrass is there anything at all you can tell me about this book or why your father would bring it here."

"I'm very sorry, sir." I said, quietly. "I know nothing about any of it."

Williamson stood up and led me to the door. "Very well, Ms. Greengrass, that's all for today."

I walked outside the office and saw Miles standing there. "Are you alright?" He asked, his voice shaking.

I nodded. I was too shocked to do anything. I had no idea how to react to this. My father had tried to attack the Minister. For what reason? Did he think he would manage? Did he even actually do it?

"Are the three of you going to be okay?" I asked him quietly.

Miles nodded. "I think there's going to be a trial."

My eyes widened.

Miles smiled slightly. "Don't worry, Astoria. They're not going to lock us up in Azkaban for attempting to defend ourselves."

Miles put his arms around me and I began to cry silently as he held me. I wasn't crying about his trial. I knew the three of them would be okay. It was about my father. I had never been close to my father but of course I never wanted him to end up in Azkaban. But this wasn't why I was crying either. I couldn't believe that he could be capable of something like this. That I was the daughter of a man who tried to wipe the mind of the Minister. I had never hated my family more than I did at this moment.


	13. Family

"Come on, Astoria, we have to be there as witnesses." Corinne said as she dragged me away from Daphne and Theodore.

"Witnesses for what?" Theodore asked.

"When Weasley and Thomas showed up at the Bletchley's this morning," I explained, "Miles, Adrian, and Carl may have attacked them."

Theodore shook his head. "Well, that's fantastic." He said sarcastically.

"Come on, Astoria." Corinne said again.

"I better go. I'll see you guys later." I said to Theodore and Daphne.

I followed Corinne down to the Courtrooms where Draco was waiting outside for us.

He walked over to us, looking worried. "You okay, Astoria? You know my family will do anything to help you and your family." He said as he put a hand on my shoulder.

"Thanks, Draco. I'm doing alright. A little shaken and shocked, but okay." I said

The three of us walked into the courtroom together. Miles, Carl, and Adrian were sitting in three chained chairs, however, the chains were not binding them. This seemed to be a good sign. There was a small jury. It was not a full Wizengamont trial. This also made me hopeful. There was about 10 men or women sitting in the front of the room and none other than Harry Potter was sitting in the center of all of them.

"Ms. Greengrass, Ms. Bletchley, and Mr. Malfoy will you please take a seat?" Harry Potter said as he conjured up three chairs for us to sit in.

We all sat down, Corinne on one side of me and Draco on the other. Draco was muttering something under his breath. I caught the words. "Potter" and "Ridiculous".

"Now Mr. Bletchley," Potter started, "If you could please explain what happened."

Miles began to tell his tale of how Weasley and Thomas barged into his home and demanded to see his girlfriend without an explanation. I felt a little awkward when Miles referred to me as his girlfriend. He continued to say that the reason they attacked was to protect me.

"Ms. Greengrass" Potter said. "is this true?"

I stood up awkwardly. "I did not see what happened when the Aurors arrived. I heard banging from my bedroom and got up and ran to the stop of the stairs with Ms. Bletchley and Mr. Malfoy to see what was going on. When I arrived, I saw Mr. Pucey and Mr. Warrrington laying unconscious and Mr. Bletchley was stunned a few seconds after I arrived at the scene."

"Thank you, Ms. Greengrass, you may be seated." Potter said.

The trial continued with Ron Weasley and Dean Thomas telling their tale of what happened.

"The witnesses may now leave." Potter said and Draco, Corinne, and I stood up and headed out the door.

Draco was furious when we stepped outside. "This has to be a joke. There is no way they won't be convicted with Potter looking over the trial especially since it involves Weasley. It's completely ludicrous!"

Corinne shook her head. "It's completely unfair." She said and she sank down to sit against the wall, head buried in her hands.

Draco and I just stood there in silence waiting while Corinne began to cry.

After what seemed like ages, the doors to the courtroom opened and Miles, Adrian, and Carl came out, smiling.

"Only got a fine." Adrian said smiling and Corinne quickly stood up.

"Thank goodness." She said, throwing her arms around Miles. "I was so worried that because it was Potter it would be so much worse."

Miles broke away from Corinne and walked over to me. "He was surprisingly fair." Miles said bending down and giving me a soft kiss. "I guess he understood the need to protect the people you care about."

I smiled. "I'm glad you guys got off. I doubt my father will be so lucky." I said as my smile fell.

"When is your father's trial?" Miles asked.

"Next Thursday afternoon." I said quietly.

"It'll be okay, Astoria." Carl said. "We'll all be here for you."

"Thanks, Carl." I said.

"All of us." Adrian said putting his arm around my shoulder.

For the first time in my life, I felt as though I was standing amongst a group of friends or maybe it was really more of what being with a family felt like.

I was standing outside my house. Well, I guess it was my house. It was the Greengrass Manor, however, it wasn't my home. I finally had a home and it wasn't here. It was at the Bletchly Manor with Corinne, Miles, Draco, Carl, Adrian, and even Blaise and Graham when they were around.

I didn't want to go in. I knew my mother would be in a panic. I wasn't even sure if my father was here or if he was being held in Azkaban until his trial. I stood outside the door deciding whether or not I should go in. However, I knew what I needed to due. I knocked on the door and a few seconds later the door was opened by a small house elf.

"Good Morning, Tilly." I said to her.

"Good Morning, Mistress Astoria." she said brightly. Tilly had always liked me. Although that was probably due to the fact that I was the only person in our house who treated her as if she had feelings.

"Are my parents around?" I asked.

Tilly's face fell. "Mistress is in her room. She hasn't come out for almost two full days now. And Master is not here. He was taken away."

"Thank you, Tilly." I said. "I think I'll go see my mother."

"Would Mistress like some breakfast first?" The small elf asked.

I smiled at her. "Thank you, Tilly. But there's no need. I just came to see my mother."

I walked up the stairs and walked down the hallway to my parent's bedroom. I knocked quietly.

My mother's voice, sounding very weak, came from the room. "I told you, Tilly, to not disturbed me."

I opened the door.

My mother began to get up off the bed and walk towards the door. "Tilly, I told you- Oh! Astoria!" She stopped and stared at me.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing, mother." I said quietly. However, I could tell by just looking at her that she was not doing well. Her usual soft, flowing blonde curls were knotted and falling in her face. Her blue eyes were red. And her beautiful, still young face was puffy.

"That is very kind of you, Astoria." She said looking rather surprised to see me. "I would have thought Daphne would have come around before you."

I just shrugged as she went to sit back on the bed. "Where are they keeping father?"

My mother put her head in her hands and just shook her head.

"In Azkaban?" I asked timidly, going to sit next to her.

She shook her head. "He was taken to be guarded at the home of Molly and Arthur Weasley." She said with disdain. "Can you imagine staying with that filth? I'd rather he was in Azkaban."

I rolled my eyes a little, but she didn't notice.

She began to sob. "I just can't believe this. Your father doing this before Daphne's wedding. Her whole wedding is going to be ruined. It's just terrible."

My mother never really had priorities in the same order as most normal people.

"Can I go and see father?" I asked.

She shrugged. "Maybe. I don't know if the filth will let you or not."

"Well, mother, I better be going." I said standing up. I had no idea what to say to her anymore.

She nodded. "You can see yourself out."

I began to walk towards the door when I heard my mother following me.

"Astoria." She said quietly and I turned around. She was standing right behind me "Thank you for coming to see me." She said and she gave me a very awkward hug which I returned in the same awkward fashion. "Good-bye."

"Bye mother." I said.

That was the first time my mother had hugged me since I was a very small child.


End file.
